Former Vice President Gore Visits San Diego (Takes no questions, cameras ushered out)

10 News ^ | 28 June 10 | None

[RetSignman]

[accused him of being “a crazed sex poodle.”]

I heard that as she was leaving he told her ‘you better put some flea powder on that’.

[pepperdog]

What ever happen to “Personnel”, those office workers that processed the paperwork submitted by the managers who did the hiring and firing. Where did this strange “Human Resources” stuff come from. Why not just call it all “Natural Resources”? I’m lost in this brave new world.

[Second Amendment First]

By the way, who are these "Human Resource Professionals?" They are goofball leftists, who majored in "McStudies" this, "Black Studies" that, and "Women's Studies." They couldn't get a real job if their lives depended on it.

I've always respected your opinion SkyPilot on aviation, but you're painting with an extremely broad brush on this one. My wife is a Senior Human Resources Professional and has worked in manufacturing and telecommunications for over 35 years, and is as conservative as anyone here; here favorite columnist is Thomas Sowell.

Don't label all in SHRM because algore was invited to speak at the convention, unless you are willing to label all CEO's and businessmen the same because some of them elected algore to the board of Apple.

If you think a Director of HR isn't a "real job", think again. Someone has to deal with all the employees everyday and all of their real and perceived issues, administration of all the benefits provided by the company, and verification of applicants credentials. It is definitely not an easy job unless you are some small cog in a government bureaucracy.

As for some of the BS regarding affirmative action, sexual harassment, etc., HR is the front line for keeping the company from being sued out of business. How would you like to be the one having to deal with all the government mandates that constantly change?

I know some HR departments will be far left, think those companies who have social change mandates regarding global warming, gay rights, gun control, but not all companies are located in Kalifornia (OK, now I'm painting with a broad brush).

BTW, my wife has never had any of the McStudies you cite, more like accounting and business administration.

Just my two cents worth.

[Second Amendment First]

See my #23.

[GOPRaleigh]

Thank you for your accurate description of HR professionals. My wife is in San Diego for the SHRM conference because she needs the credits for her HR Manager recertification. BTW - my wife is conservative and thought Gore’s speech was a joke.

[Second Amendment First]

HR is always an easy target for frustrated people who don't realize what it actually entails, but get all bent out of shape when their paycheck is off a few pennies.

I'm sure most of the SHRM people there watching algore were thinking "crazed sex poodle".

[GOPRaleigh]

You are correct! People would be amazed at what is asked of HR managers and/or directors. And now they have to try and explain ObamaCare to the employees. My wife said that legislation is a cluster**** in design and implementation. I hope everyone likes having their premiums raised by 15%+!!

[RipSawyer]

Personnel became Human Resources about the time very attractive stewardesses became dumpy looking “flight attendants”, at least it was long before “illegal aliens” became “undocumented immigrants”.

We should join forces, I’m lost too and getting more confused every day. The language is being distorted beyond recognition, there are no rules of usage anymore. A modern “journalist” with a masters degree could not possibly pass a seventh grade public school English exam from my era. The newest thing driving me nuts is when people say “as much” at the end of a sentence, as in, “They are trying to make as much money.” To me it makes zero sense and it certainly would have been called an incomplete sentence in any backwoods public school fifth grade classroom in the fifties. In the old usage “as much” demanded another as and it must be followed by something. “As much money as Bill Gates makes” or something similar would be a complete sentence. I hear it on TV all the time, “as much (blank)” with nothing following. It sounds idiotic to me. Language is a primary tool of man upon which foundation many other disciplines are constructed and we are rapidly undermining the foundation by careless and crude usage of English. Why should I take someone’s opinion seriously if they cannot be bothered to learn how to express an opinion? Moreover, what kind of clowns are teaching English these days?

[RipSawyer]

Actually the sarcastic tone of my post is directed at the government interference in business, not the actual HR professionals. I apologize if it sounded otherwise.

[SkyPilot]

I've always respected your opinion SkyPilot on aviation, but you're painting with an extremely broad brush on this one. My wife is a Senior Human Resources Professional and has worked in manufacturing and telecommunications for over 35 years, and is as conservative as anyone here; here favorite columnist is Thomas Sowell. Don't label all in SHRM because algore was invited to speak at the convention, unless you are willing to label all CEO's and businessmen the same because some of them elected algore to the board of Apple. If you think a Director of HR isn't a "real job", think again.

Well, I do apologize - and it was not my intention to paint all HRs with that broad brush, as there are bound to be exceptions like your wife. However, I still think the majority of HRs are beyond worthless - and are actually counter productive to any organization.

My experience is that the majority of HR personnel see themselves as the "super nannies" of an organization, spewing out blather and liberal garbage, but never producing a damn thing. They increase the loads on other worker's backs, and then do nothing to assist them in carrying them. The blather on and on with made up, useless phrases like "Strategic Partnering Empowerment" or "Quantitative Leveraged Respect", but in reality, they are charlatans who have consumed too much of their own Kool-Aide. They are most fearful of being "found out" that their game is full of hot air, and that they really don't produce anything. The tasks you describe, such as benefits or resume verification, have long been contracted out or assigned to various departments by companies who have figured out HRs scam and called its bluff.

Not to mention the fact that HR henchmen are usually either the driving force for, or the chief agent enforcing, liberal garbage in any organization - from "diversity" to weird, cult-like training that would be better suited to the Church of Scientology rather than a for-profit company. In fact, I am not at all surprised to see HR personnel following around Al Gore and inhaling what he is smoking, because it is just par for the course.

One of the best articles I have read on the subject is linked and excerpted below, entitled: "Why We Hate HR." It was written in 2005.

_________________________________________________________________

Why We Hate HR By: Keith H. Hammonds

Because let's face it: After close to 20 years of hopeful rhetoric about becoming "strategic partners" with a "seat at the table" where the business decisions that matter are made, most human-resources professionals aren't nearly there. They have no seat, and the table is locked inside a conference room to which they have no key. HR people are, for most practical purposes, neither strategic nor leaders.

__________________But then the facade cracks. It happens at an afternoon presentation called "From Technicians to Consultants: How to Transform Your HR Staff into Strategic Business Partners." The speaker, Julie Muckler, is senior vice president of human resources at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. She is an enthusiastic woman with a broad smile and 20 years of experience at companies such as Johnson & Johnson and General Tire. She has degrees in consumer economics and human resources and organizational development. And I have no idea what she's talking about. There is mention of "internal action learning" and "being more planful in my approach." PowerPoint slides outline Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's initiatives in performance management, organization design, and horizontal-solutions teams. Muckler describes leveraging internal resources and involving external resources -- and she leaves her audience dazed. That evening, even the human-resources pros confide they didn't understand much of it, either. This, friends, is the trouble with HR. In a knowledge economy, companies that have the best talent win. We all know that. Human resources execs should be making the most of our, well, human resources -- finding the best hires, nurturing the stars, fostering a productive work environment -- just as IT runs the computers and finance minds the capital. HR should be joined to business strategy at the hip. Instead, most HR organizations have ghettoized themselves literally to the brink of obsolescence. They are competent at the administrivia of pay, benefits, and retirement, but companies increasingly are farming those functions out to contractors who can handle such routine tasks at lower expense. What's left is the more important strategic role of raising the reputational and intellectual capital of the company -- but HR is, it turns out, uniquely unsuited for that.

________________________________

HR pursues efficiency in lieu of value. Why? Because it's easier -- and easier to measure. Dave Ulrich, a professor at the University of Michigan, recalls meeting with the chairman and top HR people from a big bank. "The training person said that 80% of employees have done at least 40 hours in classes. The chairman said, 'Congratulations.' I said, 'You're talking about the activities you're doing. The question is, What are you delivering?' " That sort of stuff drives Ulrich nuts. Over 20 years, he has become the HR trade's best-known guru (see "The Once and Future Consultant," page 48) and a leading proponent of the push to take on more-strategic roles within corporations. But human-resources managers, he acknowledges, typically undermine that effort by investing more importance in activities than in outcomes.

___________________

We don't wait to hear from top management," Smith says. "You can't just sit in the corner and look at benefits. We have to know what the issues in our business are. HR has to step up and assume responsibility, not wait for management to knock on our door." But most HR people do.

______________________________

The problem, if you're an HR person, is this: The tasks companies are outsourcing -- the administrivia -- tend to be what you're good at. And what's left isn't exactly your strong suit. Human resources is crippled by what Jay Jamrog, executive director of the Human Resource Institute, calls "educated incapacity: You're smart, and you know the way you're working today isn't going to hold 10 years from now. But you can't move to that level. You're stuck." That's where human resources is today. Stuck.

[Oratam]

Personnel became Human Resources about the time very attractive stewardesses became dumpy looking “flight attendants”, at least it was long before “illegal aliens” became “undocumented immigrants”.

"They took the person out of Personnel and called it Human Resources" was something my father once said to me. He had a 40-year career in Personnel with some Fortune 50 corporations. As he told it, by the '70s American big business concluded if they had to provide a career track for women, assigning Personnel to that role was the best way to go. In time, the gals took over and a politically incorrect dinosaur like my old man was history. Besides, IRAs and outsourcing did away with his job function. Well, that and the fact that no one got his jokes anymore.

I imagine now the gals are being challenged by the gays for control.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I thought he was dead.

[Inwoodian]

Greta Gorebo.